NATIONAL DESK

Miami Jury Weighs Case Of Conspiracy By 11 Officers

By DANA CANEDY (NYT) 754 words

The officers, some suspended, others no longer on the force, are accused of planting guns at crime scenes or on suspects, shooting unarmed suspects and giving false statements to cover up their actions.

Many were members of an elite police street team, ''the Jump Out Boys,'' which operated in tough neighborhoods but has since been disbanded.

Their lawyers argue they were simply aggressive police officers who are being penalized for trying to clean up some of the city's most dangerous streets.

The case centers on four shootings and arrests in the mid- to late 1990's that left three dead and one wounded. The victims included Richard Brown, 73, who died when the police fired into his apartment in a drug investigation in 1996, and a homeless man who was wounded in 1997 while carrying a radio that the police later said was a gun, according to the authorities.

All the shootings were ruled justified by state prosecutors and by an internal Police Department review, which was led by the former police chief, Raul Martinez, who resigned in November.

Civil rights leaders and citizen advocates, however, said they were outraged by the shootings, in which three black suspects were killed and the homeless man, who is white, was wounded. All the defendants are Hispanic.

In closing arguments today, prosecutors told the jury that the men on trial took part in an organized conspiracy and deserved to be sent to prison. ''They had the same goal, to cover up questionable police shootings,'' said Allan Kaiser, an assistant United States attorney, who prosecuted the case.

''As all the details emerged from one incident to the next, it appears this is a single conspiracy,'' Mr. Kaiser said. ''You must find the defendants guilty.''

Defense lawyers said the officers were innocent and that the charges against them were a political response to a group of unfortunate but justified shootings.

Richard Sharpstein, a lawyer for two of the officers, said that the men had on their side laws permitting the police to use deadly force to capture armed suspects. ''If you don't like it write your legislator,'' Mr. Sharpstein told the jury yesterday in his summation. ''That's the law that governs these officers. There were no civil rights violations in any of these cases.''

Another defense lawyer, William Matthewman, said the officers on trial were being prosecuted simply for making split-second decisions to use force in dangerous situations.

''You're damned if you do and damned if you don't,'' Mr. Matthewman said. ''It's not like shooting at paper targets: paper targets don't shoot back.''

After deliberating for most of the day, jurors left this evening without reaching a verdict.

Key witnesses for the prosecution included two police officers who pleaded guilty to the charges. They then broke ranks with their fellow officers and testified against them in hopes of receiving reduced sentences as part of a plea agreement.

The officers, however, testified that they had never seen the defendants plant guns at crime scenes. One of the police witnesses who pleaded guilty, William Hames, who is retired, testified that such a practice however, ''was a common-knowledge thing. It was joked about. It was something you heard.''

Defense lawyers called the prosecution witnesses opportunistic liars who were cooperating to avoid lengthy prison sentences.

''They created this conspiracy,'' said Roy Kahn, a defense lawyer. ''Hames is a liar, a drunk, and an incompetent witness. He is the star that never shone. He never shined.''

Mr. Hames admitted on the stand that he drank on the job twice and suffered occasional blackouts.

Mr. Kaiser, the prosecutor, in his closing arguments, however, called Mr. Hames' testimony credible and said that he had previously lied to protect his colleagues. ''This is a man who plead guilty to a conspiracy. He accepted responsibility for the lies to protect his fellow officers.''

The defendants are; Jose Acuna, 44; Jesus Aguero, 40; Arturo Beguiristain, 42; Jorge Castello, 34; Rafael Fuentes, 35; Jorge Garcia, 40; Israel Gonzalez, 43; Eliezer Lopez, 35; Alejandro Macias, 38; Jose Quintero, 39, and Oscar Ronda, 41. All are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.